ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses HCC and LCC culture preferred communication styles and develops KISS/KILC communication styles. It gives practical examples of spoken and written differences and discusses the importance of clarity. Interpreters need to be particularly aware of the culture-bound differences in the finality of the written or the spoken word. Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars describe how a written Australian-Japanese sugar agreement teetered during 1976-77. After the agreement was duly signed, the context changed: world oil prices quadrupled and the world price of sugar dramatically fell. The Japanese people, consequently, had to pay well over the world price for their sugar. According to the authors, the LCC Australians considered the Japanese to be "seemingly indifferent to the small print" and saw no reason to renegotiate. With regard to the use of business cards and translation, Mead suggests: Try to have your cards translated and printed before you leave your own country.
